


Free Fall

by alexcyprin (Megatraven)



Series: Silver and Gold [12]
Category: Labyrinths of Astoria (Visual Novel)
Genre: Angst, Bittersweet Ending, Manipulation, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-25
Updated: 2020-05-25
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:55:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,278
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24365401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Megatraven/pseuds/alexcyprin
Summary: A confrontation between Ares and MC leads to MC falling from Olympus, but to save her in time, Alex has to pay a terrible price.
Relationships: Alex Cyprin/Main Character
Series: Silver and Gold [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1572766
Kudos: 4





	Free Fall

**Author's Note:**

> For the prompt, "Astoria story where mc is looking over the floating ground, somehow ends up falling over and someone has to rescue her. (You can choose the person who will rescue her) Maybe someone decided they don't like her and wants to rid of her or she is clumsy... give it as much angst as possible." requested by @simpsonjenna1 on tumblr

“Those are your only choices,” Ares sneers, his anger heating the air around them, nearly burning her. It’s thick and cloying, threatening to choke her before she can respond as waves of red aura spill from the god. “Become my hero, or die.”

Fear courses through her veins, but anger runs right alongside it. She meets his gaze, suppressing the need to bow her head in his presence, and clenches her fists. 

“You don’t get to decide my fate for me,” she says, nearly spitting the words at him and she takes a brave step forward, pointing at his chest. “I’ll never be your hero, Ares. I’ll never choose you over Alex.”

The god smiles, then. It’s something cruel and it chills her down to her bones even as the heat around him grows unbearable.

“Then you’ve chosen death, little goddess.”

Before she can say anything, before she can even move, the god’s hand is clenched around her throat, so tight she worries he’ll kill her right then. She can barely think past the way his touch burns, his hand leaving an imprint in her skin that would make her sob, if she could.

And then he says something that makes her mind go blank, any pain she feels overshadowed by her fury and hatred for the god:

“Say hello to your mother for me.”

It isn’t the words themselves- though they’re terrible on their own. No- it’s the satisfaction, the _glee_ in his eyes, the smugness in his voice that tell her everything she didn’t know, never even considered.

He was responsible for her mother’s death.

“You-” she starts, her anguish boiling over as a storm of curses jump to the tip of her tongue. But he squeezes tighter, cutting off any other words, and she can only struggle against his iron grip for so long before he grows bored of toying with her.

“It’s a shame, really. You would’ve been the perfect tool to make Aphrodite suffer for what she did to me. And it would put that thin-blooded child of hers in their place.” He shrugs, nonchalant even as he dangles her above the ground, too close to the edge of Olympus. “But I’ll make it work without you.”

Without any warning, he pulls her close for just a moment, probably to gloat more, and despite everything, she manages to spit right in his face. Disgust and hatred flare up alongside his aura, and she takes some sick satisfaction from it just before he tosses her off the side.

The wind rushes around her as she falls, any scream dying before it leaves her throat, the burns Ares left too painful for anything to spill past it. Tears finally break free of her, streaming down her cheeks and dripping into the air above.

From up above, she sees Ares watching her, looking over the edge before he turns around and goes. A traitorous part of her wants to call him back- somehow, dying alone is a more terrifying thought than having even the god of war with her. But she promptly shoves that need down and tries taking stock of everything else, hoping, _praying_ that against all odds, she might find something to save her life.

Her hopes are dashed as quick as they came. The only thing near her as she falls are the other floating islands, each still too far for her to reach or land. And landing on one seemed just as deadly as not. 

She shudders, trying to rid her mind of such thoughts. When it comes to it, there’s nothing there to save her. Only Ares knew where she was, and she’d never taken the gods for ones that just stare over the edges of paradise waiting for some mortal to fall past them.

Against the harsh winds, she closes her eyes, and lets fear overcome her as consciousness fades- either from that very fear, or the hurt that Ares inflicted. The world disappears from sight, and it’s easy to think it’s all a bad dream in the ever-lasting darkness.

She’s not sure how long she falls, or if she’s even falling at all. But someone calls her name- it’s a voice that her heart beats happily for, that always soothes her.

_Alex._

They call out again, and whether she falls or not, she smiles, thankful that she can at least hear their voice once more. She thinks, if she is truly falling to her death, then Hypnos is a kind god where Ares is cruel.

It’s not as hard to accept such a terrible fate, when their voice settles her soul and pierces through the fear. She may be falling- or she may not be- but nothing makes her feel lighter than thinking of her love for Alex. 

And then their voice cuts through the fog that’s filled her mind- they’re a lot closer now, and she stirs, cracking her eyes open just a peek before jolting awake.

She _is_ falling, careening down from Olympus to only gods know where. She’s still afraid, but she knows what she heard, and looks around wildly, desperate to see-

_There._

Alex, with such a pained look on their face that it makes her heart ache, riding on one of the many pegasi that populate Olympus. She’s not even sure that they’re tame animals, but Alex rides it as if they’ve done it their whole life.

Their hand reaches out towards her, and though her fingers are numb and she can hardly muster the strength to move at all, she reaches back.

She’s not sure what she’s done to deserve such a thing, but the moment her fingertips touch Alex’s, she knows everything will be alright. There’s no room for doubt as Alex’s hand closes around hers and pulls her onto the pegasus, cradling her body to theirs and holding on tight.

Her throat protests, but she tries to speak anyways, only stopping when Alex’s worried gaze falls on her, and they tell her to save her energy. She wants to argue, say something to convince them that she’ll be fine, now that they’re here. But they keep talking before she can choke something out.

“It’ll be okay. I’ll keep you safe, no matter what,” they promise her, guiding the pegasus back to one of the islands. “Gods... I’m so sorry, I never should’ve left you alone up here-” Their breath hitches and they shake their head. “But that doesn’t matter right now. What matters is getting you help.”

They nod, resolute.

She nearly nods off while they fly, the beat of their heart and the sound of the pegasus’ wings a sweet kind of rhythm. Instead of succumbing to slumber, though, a single thought persists through her mind, and she takes the time to grab Alex’s attention and say one word.

“...How?”

This time, the look Alex gives her does more than make her heart ache- it breaks it into a hundred different pieces.

“Ares told me.”

Her blood goes cold and her brows draw together, confusion warring with anger. Alex must read her like an open book, because they look away, the guilt and pain in their own expression too much to bear.

Their own heart is breaking, that much is clear.

And then they whisper the words that really, truly crush her, hurt worse than Ares’ burns or falling to her death. Words that will take the rug out from under her feet for the rest of her life, that she _wishes_ would be lost to the wind around them.

"I agreed to become his hero. In your place.”

It’s unspoken, but their worst fears have come true:

Ares won.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it! Comments and Kudos appreciated!
> 
> If you'd like to request something, or just talk about lovestruck in general, you can send an ask to my sideblog @official-alex-cyprin on tumblr! Any requests I receive for characters I haven't met/played through yet will be saved in my inbox until I have met/played them!


End file.
